Chapter 28: The Aftermath

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Encircled by roars of crying engine and thunderous tires, Jack and I stood in our own little bubble, the world losing focus around us with each passing second. My arms were clutched around his back as if I were falling and he were my ledge. My mind was still foggy, the atmosphere around us a complete blur as I gave my all to my boy.

He pulled away sweetly, diamond blue eyes gazing up at mine with innocence brimming at his pink waterline.

Having Jack pulled away from me sent a violent wave of reality crashing over my head.

Suddenly the wind felt too cold, the rain was too heavy, the night sky was too dark, the cars were too loud. Jack was too good for me. All these things that had been nebulous in my mind were becoming crystal clear.

Every single reason I had for pushing Jack away all hit me at once, a salvo of guilty bullets piercing my skin.

"I, um I sh-shouldn't have done that. W-we should um go." My throat cleared awkwardly as I turned away from Jack and began pacing back to my mum's car.

Swiftly, I filled the engine back up with the petrol canister I had abandoned by the door and got in, throwing it carelessly behind me to the back seats.

Within no time, we were moving, speeding down the road in the direction of home. Not a word was uttered in the sickening silence, which I was thankful for. I'm not sure I could have stomached a conversation with Jack right now, not with this guilt that was multiplying in my stomach.

I really just kissed Jack. It's almost like I didn't care about the fact that I hurt everyone around me.

Upon arriving home, I jumped out of the car and fled into the house with a quiet and confused Jack trailing along behind. Without even acknowledging my presence, my mum ran over to Jack, asking him repeatedly if he were okay in a freakishly fast tone. Her hands were all over his face, pushing the wet hair away from his forehead.

"I'm okay." He repeated like he was stuck on a loop. Through the barrels of care that got thrown his way, our eyes connected briefly. Although it was only a short second, I could still see the sadness and confusion that roamed his mind.

I left unnoticed by my parents and escaped to my room, letting the door close loudly behind me as I fell onto my bed face first.

What the fuck had I done? I had officially fucked everything.

I laid there, my mind a chaos filled mess, for a while before the door opened and closed, only giving off a minute sound. I twisted my body round so that my back was against my duvet and sat up, fearful to meet Jack's eyes. He was stood there, arms rigid and fingers nervously twitching. He was facing anywhere but my direction. The tense atmosphere was making my stomach twist. I couldn't deal with it.

Impulsively, my body sprang up, legs finding their way onto the group to support my body. "I need to go." My jacket was clutched in my hands and my legs were already heaving my weight through the door before I had even finished my sentence. Thankful that my wallet and phone laid peacefully in my jacket pocket, I called a taxi to drop me off near to where my car had been deserted and in no time was I back in my familiar leather seats of my baby; my car.

I didn't have any plans of what I was going to do whilst I roamed the streets of the town. I just connected my phone to the aux cord and let my playlist sing through the car. The volume was up high, shaking any worries out of my head temporarily.

Time flew by and before I knew it, 2am had struck on my phone. I had been out for hours now, declining the several miss calls from my parents and Jack whilst I sped down empty concrete streets carelessly. So much for never wanting to speed again.

I had finally decided to make my way home when my eyelids began to feel heavy under the darkness of the night sky. I knew it was dangerous to drive when you felt tired, therefore I parked my car in the driveway and sluggishly got out. The door was unlocked and upon pushing it open, my eyes fell to a very tired father sat on the dining room table, his palm holding his head from dropping onto the table and falling into a deep sleep.

"Dalton." He said a little too calmly as he sat up once my presence was noticed. His arm changed positions and he gestured for me to sit down on the chair opposite to him, which didn't seem like a good idea yet my body betrayed me and before I knew it, I was sat, eyes locked on the table to avoid my father's tired ones.

"Son, I don't know what is going on right now with you, but you can't leave like that." His voice was quiet and relaxed, it freaked me out a little because of how chilled out he was being. "Everyone was worried, your mother was, and Jack. Dalton, Jack was so worried about you, you can't put him through that again. Just let's make an agreement, okay?" he hesitated for a second, a deal forming in his head as his eyes gazed at the clock that hung idly behind me.

"Next time you want to escape, clear your head or whatever you do buddy, just tell me. Answer your texts every hour or so, just give us some relief so we don't have to panic the entire time, okay?"

What he said was quite reasonable, very reasonable actually. Also, although it shouldn't, hearing that Jack was worried about me, possibly to the extent I was worried about him when he broke down, sent butterflies through my stomach. "Okay. Sorry." I sent him a curt nod and got up from my seat, hauling my tired body up into the room.

Before I entered, I could see the lights were off, which usually meant Jack was sleeping since he always kept the light on to read, however I could still hear things, sounds of silent struggle as I got closer to the door.

Once again, Jack was having a night terror, however, this time he was on my bed. I shouldn't have cared; I should have just let him sleep through it like everyone else does. But, in case it wasn't obvious, I did. Against all my internal reasoning, I took my clothes off and put some shorts on, brushed my teeth swiftly and carefully climbed into bed with Jack. His body was moving a lot, head twisting and turning against my cotton pillow. I could also hear his breathing, and every minute or so, he would let the softest whimper fall from his lips. If I thought I was just going to lie there whilst he went through that, I was incredibly wrong.

I pushed my body forward and lifted his head, slipping my arm underneath and pulling his body close to mine. I could smell my shampoo on his hair, the fruity scent dancing through my nose. It was as if by magic, his fidgeting stopped. His breathing returned to a sweet and steady pulse. His whimpers turned into cute snores that brought a smile to my face.

Although I knew I helped by laying here with him, I couldn't help but feel guilty for this. The entire situation felt like déjà vu. I disappear without giving Jack even the slightest clue of where I have gone and then he gets worried and struggles to sleep, causing him to get these nightmares.

Already, I am hurting him. I have already caused destruction to this boy and it has been only hours since we kissed. I couldn't continue this if I wanted to. I couldn't put him through pain like I did with Liam. It wasn't fair.

Jack's POV

Last night had been a whirlwind in my mind. A turbulence of thoughts and questions span through my head. All unanswered and all leaving me even more confused than before.

Dalton and I kissed. We kissed. Him and I kissed. He kissed me. I kissed him back.

I couldn't quite comprehend how it happened, and honestly, my mind was yet to justify it as something that definitely occurred. It just didn't seem realistic that Dalton would go for someone like me. It didn't seem realistic at all.

He left soon after we got home. He had no car and the weather was crazy. He left Katherine's car which meant the only thought crossing my mind was that Dalton was out walking the streets in sub-zero temperatures. Although I attempted to try and convince his parents to let me go after him multiple times, I sat there, head against the dining room table, eyes never leaving the front door. I was waiting for it to swing open with a safe and sound Dalton. I was waiting to see his signature smile that showed his pearly white teeth and his deep green eyes that I would never get used to.

I did wait. I waited for a long time. Every twenty minutes or so I would pull out my phone and attempt to ring him, only for it to go to voicemail every single time. As the night crept up on me, my eyelids grew heavy and with each moment, it became harder to reopen them. I had to go to sleep.

Still as worried as ever, I got up from my seat and sluggishly crawled upstairs, falling onto a bed and letting my head sink into the pillow. I didn't realise who's bed I had fallen into until my nose was filled with his scent; the scent I loved so much.

I didn't move though, in fact I felt more at peace. My mind still lingered on his whereabouts and his wellbeing, but I fell asleep anyway, his face being the abundance of my dream.

I woke up the next day early. The clock showed that it was 6:38am and the pink sky and rising sun that leaked with yellow goodness from the horizon enforced that. It only took me a second to acknowledge the arm that was wrapped around my waist, the hair that was tickling my neck or the soft snores that sang with the birds.

Dalton was safe. In fact, Dalton was better than safe, he was with me. He was holding me. A grin invited itself to my face as all my worries evaporated into the warmth of the air. For once, I was able to allow myself the luxury of falling back asleep.

Around two hours later, I felt a stir in the bed that caused my dream to fade and reality to kick in. I had yet to open my eyes when I felt Dalton trying to get his arm out from my grip so that he could get away. A new coldness attacked my skin as soon as he got up, sending a shiver to vibrate through my body.

What hurt is that he wasn't getting up to go to the toilet, or to go downstairs, or do anything, he got up and went and laid straight back down on my bed instead. He simply got up just to get away from me

The day went by slowly, with each encounter with Dalton getting more awkward. At first, he would ask if I was alright, and then it turned into a simple hey, and then soon he wasn't even looking at me when we walked past each other in the hallway. He was ignoring me.

When we were sat in his room together, he would be silent, and when I'd try and hold a conversation with him, his replies would consist of one-word answers. I wish I knew what was going on in his head. I tried asking but that left me more confused than ever.

I walked into the room, with confidence I had been trying to acquire throughout the day and waited for him to look up from his phone. He was sat on his bed with his back resting against the wall.

"Dalton, c-can I ask you something?" I remember saying. My throat felt dry as my stomach formed knots of anxiety. I was scared of what his response would be, petrified even.

He looked up, and I noticed his jaw clenching briefly and his eyes wandering anywhere except on me. He made a 'mhm' noise, signifying for me to continue, so I swallowed my nerves and did so.

"W-what w-was yesterday about? I'm ju- um, I am just confused on w-where we stand." Once I stuttered my words, his eyes fell shut as he thought of what to reply. He was silent for a long time, it felt like hours, and I was starting to think he wouldn't answer me.

"Nothing, Jack. It was nothing, okay? I'm going out." He said abruptly and jumped from his bed, "And for the love of God, stop worrying about me. I can take care of myself." He spat out, leaving a knife to cut through my chest. Picking up his shoes a little too aggressively, he shoved past me, my body falling into the door frame forcefully, and stomped downstairs. Only a second later, the sound of the front door slamming shut trembled through the house.

To say I was lost for words was an understatement. I stood there, body leaning against the door, trying to process what Dalton had just said for a long time.

Nothing. We were nothing. I was nothing to him.

And he told me not to worry about him, as if that was something I could stop.

The mix of the throbbing in my shoulder from getting pushed into the frame and throbbing in my chest left me a mess on the floor. I closed the door to the room and quickly tucked myself into my bed, hearing Dalton's words circle through my brain like they were stuck on a loop.

I had really lost Dalton. Not just as someone I liked, but a friend. I had lost him as a friend. He was one of the few people I confided in about my past, he was one of the few people I trusted with my life, and now we couldn't even look at each other. How could I lose someone like Dalton? Who would be stupid enough to let that happen?

I wasn't crying at first, I wasn't crying for hours, but I did cry. It was around 9pm and all I had done for the past several hours was sit in my bed with covers wrapped around me, like a caterpillar, and let my mind overthink and contemplate all the mistakes I had made since I met Dalton. All the times I couldn't get my words out coherently, all the times I spent the night with his parents instead of him, all the times I needed his help in situations I got myself in, and I began to cry. Tears leaked slowly from my eyes in the silence of the night.

I had really messed up and lost my best friend and I couldn't accept it.

Dalton wasn't like anyone I knew, he wasn't even comparable to them, not Grayson, not anyone, and now he was gone.

A/N
Guys I'm sorryyyyy, shit happened and I went away for a while but I'm back and I'm completely in the right frame of mind to write again. Thank you all for bearing with me and I love you all xxx

P.s. this is my first chapter in a while and while I have reread it several times, there may still be mistakes so feel free to pick them out. Even the little mistakes can be pointed out, it makes the story better. Thank you x

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net